Kish's 2 Interception Tds Sink Whitehall

Bryan Kish proved he is one of the most dangerous football players in the East Penn Conference as he led Dieruff to its most complete defensive game of the season last night.

While the undefeated Huskies were being held down by a determined Zephyr defense, the Dieruff defense lit up the scoreboard and stat pages leading to an 18-0 victory at Zephyr Stadium.

Dieruff's first shutout of the season improved the Huskies to 5-0, the only unbeaten EPC team.

Kish returned a pair of interceptions for long touchdowns as the Huskies picked off four passes in the second half and recovered one fumble to stifle the Zephyrs. Kish's first interception went 74 yards midway through the third quarter to break a scoreless tie.

His second, with 1:37 left in the game, thrilled a mid-sized crowd in Whitehall as he avoided two would-be tacklers at the Dieruff 10, cutting left and then tearing down the middle of the field for a school record 90-yard return for a touchdown.

"I was just hoping to intercept so they wouldn't score," said the bandana-wearing Kish. "I just ran. The team did all the work. I got plenty of blocks."

"That's a school record for him," offered Dieruff coach Mike Marcks. "I'm pretty sure that's a school record."

While Kish's 90-yarder may have been a school record, Whitehall coach John Bendekovits was pretty sure the two interceptions for TDs may have been one of those negative records for Whitehall, which dropped to 0-4 in the EPC (1-4 overall).

To Dieruff's credit, three of those interceptions were on back-to-back-to-back passes by junior quarterback Kris Car. Bendekovits explained that the defensive interior of Dieruff was so dominant that it eliminated Whitehall's bread-and-butter trapping game and any chance to run the option.

The final interception was thrown by senior Mike McFetridge, who entered at quarterback with 5:13 left in the game, trying to get something going for Whitehall's offense.

Kish's first interception return came on Whitehall's first possession of the second half after the Zephyrs forced the Huskies to punt from the Dieruff 13. Whitehall took over on the Dieruff 42, drove eight yards and decided to go for it on fourth-and-two.

Car rolled right to a flooded zone along the near sideline and tried to find Matt Szoke. Instead, Kish waggled his way to the ball and electrified the crowd with a 74-yard return.

"He does it all," Marcks commented of Kish, a 6-foot, 165-pound senior. "In the game against Liberty, he scored all three TDs and kicked the extra points. He kicks field goals for us. Against Parkland, (quarterback) Aaron Brown went down and he quarterbacked the team."

Exactly 1:50 later, lightning struck again. Senior Ayad Amary intercepted Car at the Whitehall 48. On the first play, Brown threw deep for Brad Fredrick at the 20. Fredrick slipped one tackler and went into the end zone untouched for a 48-yard play and a 12-0 lead.

Whitehall's next drive ended in an interception by Michael Jones at the Dieruff 21. Brown almost had another long TD pass on first down, but Fredrick stepped out of bounds after eluding his only tackler to limit the play to 27 yards along the right sideline.

The Zephyrs were still in the game late in the fourth quarter when they drove to the Huskies' 39 with McFetridge at the controls, but Kish made his second and most fatal interception return of the evening.